Sorcerer’s Handbook

Chapter 312: The Reason for Rebirth

Despite feeling that something was amiss, Danzel, aware of his amnesia, knew it was futile to try and figure it out, so he put the matter aside for the time being.

Even if there were any issues, the “Secret Incarnation” was only with Ashe, and Danzel felt quite reassured about that.

After all, even though they might not be paramours, Danzel felt their compatibility was good. They could still be companions in adventures in the cabin, and it was possible for their relationship to develop into that of paramours—of course, that was assuming Danzel didn’t have a beloved one after regaining his memory.

If the “Secret Incarnation” was important to him, considering their relationship, Danzel believed that Ashe would definitely be willing to give it up to him after paying a certain price.

If Danzel had no lover or if he himself was Ashe’s paramour, they could even benefit from it directly without any exchange.

After checking their loot, Ashe, Danzel, and Sonya all turned their attention to the Observer.

Even the Empress Phantom was not an exception.

“What are you all looking at me for?” the Observer chuckled. “Isn’t it still your turn to pose a question, Empress?”

“Aren’t you planning to co-host with me?” the Empress voiced everyone’s Inner Voice. “I don’t want to be interrupted by your ‘wait a minute’ just after saying a few words. I’m allergic to ‘wait a minute’ now.”

“The Empress is really picky,” the Observer laughed. “But don’t worry, the questions I have up next are different from yours; they are custom-designed for us men, unfortunately not something the ladies can partake in.”

“A custom-design for men?” Ashe’s eyes lit up. “If that’s the case, then paramour, Lover, there’s no point in you staying here. Once paramour answers the questions, you should leave the cabin—”

“No way!” Sonya said decisively. “I need to see just how sinful and vile your Inner Voice is, so that when I regain my memory, breaking up with you will truly be like seeing the light, a rebirth!”

Ashe replied, “And if the questions reveal that my Inner Voice is pure and loyal, kind and upright, embodying all the world’s virtues, would you then support me wholeheartedly?”

Sonya thought for a moment, “You can’t possibly be that kind of person, so we’re still breaking up.”

Ashe asked, “Why not possible? You’ve lost your memory, how can you still judge my nature?”

“But my nature hasn’t changed,” Sonya said disdainfully. “How could anyone who becomes my Lover be a good person? Don’t you understand the principle of ‘birds of a feather flock together’?”

Sonya’s words were so convincing that Ashe began to doubt if he might actually have a criminal record.

“I also want to see your questions.”

Danzel said, “I promised to help you analyze and find the right answers, so I want to help you too.”

However, Ashe keenly noticed something off about Danzel’s demeanor. “You don’t usually explain yourself so deliberately when you speak. You’re lying. What’s your real purpose?”

“I want to know more about you,” Danzel admitted unabashedly. “I want to know all your secrets, your likes and dislikes, your shames, your nightmares. All this information will form the basis of my plans.”

“That’s great, are you planning the Entertainment for when we have our affair?”

Danzel smiled and looked at the Empress. “Then, let’s start with my third question.”

Ashe’s eyelids twitched. “It’s just for planning Entertainment, right?”

“The third question is still related to this painting,” the Empress pointed to the picture of the Masked Girl in the album. “The question is simple: what have you done to this person before.”

“First, you have served her. You were her Follower in spirit, her Monk in conduct, and her Servant in function.”

“Second, you have possessed her. You were her Lover in spirit, her Knight in action, and her Emperor in function.”

“Third,” the Empress held up three fingers, “you have desecrated her.”

“Her Followers were slaughtered by you, her glory twisted and corrupted.”

“You misinterpreted her Gospel, destroyed her Discipline, until no one in the world could hear her Gospel anymore.”

“You became her only Follower, she became a deity belonging only to you.”

After the Empress finished listing the three options, the cabin fell into a prolonged silence.

Sonya earnestly watched over Deya, her gaze never straying as if Deya might suddenly wake up and try to strangle her; Ashe, practicing mindfulness, suddenly grasped the essence of ’emptiness’ in all things, trying in his imagination to escape the confines of the cabin.

“Knight,” Danzel said, “I’m sorry.”

“Ha, what?” Ashe’s voice trembled uncontrollably, fearing he might be desecrated next.

“It seems I’m not your paramour,” Danzel chuckled, eyes fixed on the Masked Girl in the painting. “What a pity, I was really looking forward to our chemistry in bed.”

“I choose the third option. You don’t need to tell me the stakes of this question; I am sure it’s the right one.”

Without any discussion or additional information, Danzel decisively gave his answer.

Not just Danzel, but also Ashe and Sonya, believed that this was the only possible answer.

In this cabin, no one’s character was more “pure” than Danzel’s—not in terms of goodness or righteousness, but because Danzel was as simplistic as a blank sheet of paper.

She didn’t hide any of her thoughts; every drop of desire was as clearly printed on this metaphorical sheet as standard script, without any stains or attempts to wipe them away.

In contrast, both Ashe and Sonya were like articles smudged with dirt, their words appearing upright and principled at first glance, but the smeared ink between the lines, the hidden words at the beginnings and ends of sentences, and the repeatedly erased mistakes all indicated that they were fantasists with the minds of thieves but not the courage to act.

So, when the question involved Danzel’s personal actions, there was no need for further analysis. It only required understanding her character traits to determine the most likely action she would take.

While the options of “serving” and “possessing” were possible, the option of “desecrating” seemed tailor-made for Danzel.

To use an inappropriate analogy, if option one was holding hands, and option two was kissing, option three was going all the way. For someone like Danzel, who pursued thrills to the end, how could she settle for just holding hands or kissing without reaching the main event?

These three options represent a progression, testing the respondent’s level of obsession, and Danzel clearly scored full marks.

“You are correct,” the Empress said. “The stake for this question was your ‘Expert-Level Tactics,’ and the reward you’ve earned is of equal value: ‘Expert-Level Defense.’”

Two streams of light entered Danzel’s body, but she wasn’t concerned about her gains at the moment. Instead, her eyes gleamed as she stared at the unconscious Deya. Sonya stood protectively in front of Deya, ready to leave the cabin at a moment’s notice.

Danzel’s reaction wasn’t hard to understand—she had deduced from the question that the Masked Girl must be her life’s beloved, whom she longed to be with in life and in death. However, the Masked Girl wasn’t present, only Deya, who bore an identical appearance to the Masked Girl.

Without further information, she inevitably concluded that Ashe was not her paramour, but Deya was her true love.

Or rather, Deya was the Substitute for the Masked Girl, bearing the brunt of Danzel’s affection.

Even Ashe and Sonya thought so.

After all, this made the cabin host two couples, turning the adventure from a cutthroat game of Werewolf into a social activity involving two couples—sounding much more normal.

However, after Danzel revealed such a side of herself, even if it was due to the remnants of her conscience, Sonya couldn’t just hand over Deya to her!

The Empress observed the affection in Danzel’s eyes, while the Phantom’s face showed a nostalgic sadness.

“Don’t you think that if they just lost their memories and continued to live with their current relationships, it might be a good choice?”

The Empress was surprised to hear the Observer, but realized that the others hadn’t noticed the Observer’s spoiler-filled comment.

Silently, a new rule emerged in the cabin: Phantoms could chat privately without the others noticing.

This was naturally a newly born rule, as today was the first time since the emergence of the cabin that the number of Phantoms had reached a communicative level.

The Empress was even beginning to get used to the cabin’s frequent remodeling.

“Of course not.” The Swordswoman, already benched, coldly said, “This kind of make-believe affection makes me want to vomit.”

“Really?” The Witch leaned closer to the Swordswoman. “Wait a moment, I’ll call a sister out, she’d absolutely love to taste the liquid Gold flowing from Death Maniac—”

“I don’t think so either.”

The Empress looked at the Observer: “Whether in life, in death, or now, the Destiny that Danzel has faced is all due to the deep love of the Gospel. She doesn’t need a false Substitute, because she is still caught in that web of love; don’t hold her back.”

“I was just asking, no need to be so tense,” the Observer laughed. “We’re just a bunch of Phantoms, we don’t have any special powers.”

The Empress had fully realized that among the four Phantoms, three were traitors.

However, when you see that everyone around you is a traitor, maybe it’s time to rethink your approach.

“You promised,” Ashe grabbed Danzel’s hand, “to wait for me to finish answering before leaving.”

Danzel finally shifted her intense gaze away and pulled her wrist out of Ashe’s grasp: “As long as she doesn’t leave early, I won’t leave early either.”

Although Ashe didn’t know how to resolve the situation after leaving the cabin, for now, he could only continue answering questions to stabilize the situation.

“Is it finally our turn?”

The Observer sat down in front of Ashe, showing a benevolent smile: “Don’t be nervous, I am the Phantom that carries your memories, do you think I would harm you?”

Ashe thought about it and nodded: “Indeed, I should be a good person, so you probably can’t be too bad either.”

“Pfft.”

“Cough.”

The Empress suddenly heard two inappropriate laughs in a private chat, she turned around puzzled—had the Observer and Ashe just shared a joke?

“Hearing oneself praise oneself, truly a bizarre experience…” The Observer lowered his eyelids, “Let’s start with the second question then.”

“We don’t need a diagram, after all, the question is quite simple—why were you reborn?”

Everyone was startled.

Reborn?

“First, you willingly became a pawn of the Four Pillars, setting up the Ritual Track to annihilate the world, sacrificing billions of lives, thereby earning a second chance.”

“Second, you collected countless Sorcerer Handbooks, utilizing the power of numerous wishes, and spent millennia creating a Miracle that could turn the world upside down.”

“Third,” the Observer blinked, “you don’t know why.”